I GOT into singing very early in life. As kids, my brothers and I would just pick up any song we would hear over the radio, and start singing it, often with fractured lyrics.
My father would be most amused. I remember a younger brother singing his version of Matt Monro’s “Born Free.” Completely without shame, he would sing, “Born tree, as tree as the window,” instead of “Born free, as free as the wind blows.”
I, of course, had my own blunders, but I’m not in the mood now to talk about them. But there was one song that I immediately fell in love with. I think it was sung by Sammy Davies—those in their 50s may still remember him—and its title was, “What kind of fool am I.”
It had a very soft, soothing melody, just right for my taste at that time, just enough for me to fly to the moon, and I must have sung it a million times. But there was a line there that always struck me—I remember relishing those words in my lips so much I’d go OA singing it—for it gave me an idea of what a fool is.
The line was: “It seems that I’m the only one that I’ve been thinking of.” I found the words very relevant, since I could relate them to my problem then. If I thought always of myself, I would end up quarreling always with the brothers, that’s 7 of them. If I thought less of myself, the quarrels also lessened.
Our clashes often erupted on the heels of the usual forms of egoistic foolishness—laziness, greed, envy, etc. Reflecting on those years, I find it amazing that these culprits didn’t come to us. They just seemed to have sprung from us—really, an intriguing aspect of our human condition.
So, eureka! I saw some connection, before I learned its original and distilled form from the Gospel or from any priest or nun in school. The secret to a more peaceful life for me, I sort of concluded, was to think less of myself!
Years passed quickly, and that seed of an insight also grew and developed. Of course, now it’s like an old acacia tree that looks like it will last till time’s end itself.
Now as priest, this is the advice I often give to many people who come to me telling me of their conflicts. Forget yourself, I would say. No matter how right you think you are and no matter how wrong you think the other party is, you have to think more of him or her, and love them, the way Our Lord loves all of us!
Of course, this is easier said than done. So I have to give some concrete indications with more immediate and direct effects. My favorite is to hold one’s horses, to control one’s emotions, to restrain one’s provoked feelings, to delay reacting to a problem until one is in better control of his senses.
And then to pray hard, think, study and try to discover those points in the conflict that can help in bridging the gap. There must be those points. Not everything can be bad and negative. Then offer sacrifices. Ask the intercession of saints, etc. In short, go to our Lord.
I think that idea is born directly from our Lord’s words: “Come to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart…” (Mt 11,28-29)
I think these words are not meant to apply only on some occasions. They are meant for all spells of difficulty we may find ourselves in.
In the first place, our nature and constitution, what with our spiritual aspect, requires us to set our sights and thoughts outside of ourselves. The moment we look too much into ourselves, we spin a spiral of egoism that can be very dangerous, even fatal, to us.
And then our Lord himself commanded us to love God with all our might and others as ourselves. We cannot remain simply loving our own selves.
The home where we truly can lay our hat, feel secure and most happy, is not in ourselves. It’s in our communion with God and with others. We need to get out of that spiral that plunges us deeper into ourselves, poisons our thoughts, and detaches us from others, and especially from God, the ultimate Other.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Money and religion
WE have to learn how to blend these two elements. We cannot be simplistic and put them always in conflict. Yes, there are dangers to avoid. But we have to distinguish the good from the evil involved in the use of money. Otherwise, we might throw the baby out with the bath water.
It’s true that the Gospel warns us to serve only one master. We cannot serve both God and Mammon, the false idol of material wealth that exercises bad influence on us. (cfr. Mt 6,24)
But this indication is not outright a condemnation of money. We always need money, since we are not angels. We are simply asked to avoid the extreme of considering money as our God, and the other extreme of regarding money as intrinsically evil.
Christ himself had to use some money. When asked if he also had to pay taxes, he told Peter, after alluding that strictly speaking he should be exempted from it, to go to the sea to get money from a fish to pay the taxes. (cfr. Mt 17,27)
Money has to be used with a growing sensibility to its moral dimensions. It has to fit our true human dignity. It has to be related to our conscience, and ultimately to religion. It has to serve both God and man. It can be a wonderful tool for our material and spiritual growth.
In other words, money should not just be used following exclusively practical and economic criteria. We also have to consider higher, spiritual values, since we are not purely economic creatures, but are persons and children of God.
There’s no doubt that money contributes to human progress. Imagine a world without money! We’d hardly advance from the Stone Age. And with population growing and the economy stagnant, there’s nothing much to expect other than chaos.
From my economics-for-dummies class, I learned that money has to circulate as fast as possible to generate economic activity, and thus affect more people and hopefully produce more satisfaction.
But obviously this is not only a matter of speed. There has to be proper direction, since as St. Augustine once said, no matter how fast one runs, if he is off-track, he will never reach the finish line.
We need to find the proper blend. It’s a continuing task requiring us to pray, study, observe, consult, and decide. It’s not easy, and never a perfect activity. We often can’t see the forest for its trees. It thrives more on trial and error. And so we have to be flexible also.
I remember that before I got ordained—this was in Rome —I was asked to buy a new pair of shoes. So I went around to look for the one I liked. When I finally found the pair, I asked the saleslady if those shoes would last long.
She stared at me, as if I was a Martian. Then she asked me, “But why would you like the shoes to last long?”
That question stunned me. I’ve always been taught to buy things that can last even as long as a lifetime. But that remark led me to thinking more deeply. Of course, if everyone would buy shoes only once in a rare while, how would the shoe industry fare?
I concluded that the lady had a very valid point. But I had to study things more comprehensively. I had to integrate it with the requirements of temperance and Christian poverty.
When I was in high school, I hardly bought anything. I always thought I had everything that I needed, since I was told not to create needs. I got this trait from my parents who were very Spartan.
My younger sister would remind me it was time to change my wardrobe, or would introduce me to products like skin lotions and colognes, and the new styles around. She prodded me to buy them.
I was afraid I would fall into consumerism and materialism which I thought would elude my sister’s understanding. But since I did not see these anomalies in her, I followed part of her suggestions. I concluded I exaggerated my fears.
Now I realize she was helping the economy, aside from making me look kind of good. She had more common sense, was more down-to-earth, while I tended to be cocooned with my books, often building castles in the air.
With all the recently discovered ugly schemes and scams in our complicated economic environment today, there’s a crying need to hone this skill of properly blending money and religion.
It’s true that the Gospel warns us to serve only one master. We cannot serve both God and Mammon, the false idol of material wealth that exercises bad influence on us. (cfr. Mt 6,24)
But this indication is not outright a condemnation of money. We always need money, since we are not angels. We are simply asked to avoid the extreme of considering money as our God, and the other extreme of regarding money as intrinsically evil.
Christ himself had to use some money. When asked if he also had to pay taxes, he told Peter, after alluding that strictly speaking he should be exempted from it, to go to the sea to get money from a fish to pay the taxes. (cfr. Mt 17,27)
Money has to be used with a growing sensibility to its moral dimensions. It has to fit our true human dignity. It has to be related to our conscience, and ultimately to religion. It has to serve both God and man. It can be a wonderful tool for our material and spiritual growth.
In other words, money should not just be used following exclusively practical and economic criteria. We also have to consider higher, spiritual values, since we are not purely economic creatures, but are persons and children of God.
There’s no doubt that money contributes to human progress. Imagine a world without money! We’d hardly advance from the Stone Age. And with population growing and the economy stagnant, there’s nothing much to expect other than chaos.
From my economics-for-dummies class, I learned that money has to circulate as fast as possible to generate economic activity, and thus affect more people and hopefully produce more satisfaction.
But obviously this is not only a matter of speed. There has to be proper direction, since as St. Augustine once said, no matter how fast one runs, if he is off-track, he will never reach the finish line.
We need to find the proper blend. It’s a continuing task requiring us to pray, study, observe, consult, and decide. It’s not easy, and never a perfect activity. We often can’t see the forest for its trees. It thrives more on trial and error. And so we have to be flexible also.
I remember that before I got ordained—this was in Rome —I was asked to buy a new pair of shoes. So I went around to look for the one I liked. When I finally found the pair, I asked the saleslady if those shoes would last long.
She stared at me, as if I was a Martian. Then she asked me, “But why would you like the shoes to last long?”
That question stunned me. I’ve always been taught to buy things that can last even as long as a lifetime. But that remark led me to thinking more deeply. Of course, if everyone would buy shoes only once in a rare while, how would the shoe industry fare?
I concluded that the lady had a very valid point. But I had to study things more comprehensively. I had to integrate it with the requirements of temperance and Christian poverty.
When I was in high school, I hardly bought anything. I always thought I had everything that I needed, since I was told not to create needs. I got this trait from my parents who were very Spartan.
My younger sister would remind me it was time to change my wardrobe, or would introduce me to products like skin lotions and colognes, and the new styles around. She prodded me to buy them.
I was afraid I would fall into consumerism and materialism which I thought would elude my sister’s understanding. But since I did not see these anomalies in her, I followed part of her suggestions. I concluded I exaggerated my fears.
Now I realize she was helping the economy, aside from making me look kind of good. She had more common sense, was more down-to-earth, while I tended to be cocooned with my books, often building castles in the air.
With all the recently discovered ugly schemes and scams in our complicated economic environment today, there’s a crying need to hone this skill of properly blending money and religion.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Good and evil reversed
WE have to be more aware of this tricky phenomenon, and more adept as well in handling it well. This can be an abiding challenge for all of us.
I mean, what is good can become evil, and what is evil can become good. What is right can become wrong, and vice-versa. This phenomenon, actually very common, is iconized in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. (cfr Lk 18,10-14)
The Pharisee was the epitome of goodness and correctness. He fasted twice a week, gave tithes of all what he possessed. But his righteousness converted his prayer into a boast, and it simply showed he was separated from God.
The publican considered himself the receptacle of all possible moral sewage. He could hardly lift up his eyes toward heaven. His prayer dripped with compunction, but it reconciled him with God.
We have to understand that good and evil is a matter of whether one is with God or not. Good is good because one is with God. Evil is evil because he is not with God. It’s as simple as that.
Our problem is that instead of referring things—our thoughts, words and actions—to God, we refer them only to our own idea of what is good and evil.
Not much wrong there really. After all, all things we do have to be referred to our own idea of good and evil. Except that it’s an idea that has been severed from its proper source and basis—God himself.
In short, we make ourselves our own God, our ultimate source of what is good and bad, what is correct and wrong. That’s where the problems come in, where the bugs and viruses enter to corrupt our otherwise good idea.
That is why, everyday and very often during the day we need to check whether our idea of good and evil is still vitally linked with God. We have to be wary with our tendency to just flow in a certain routine and inertia of goodness that has already deadened our living connection with God.
How many times have we observed people who are bright but are proud and vain, wise but sarcastic, bursting with good intentions but painfully lacking in charity? They have become self-righteous.
There have been cases where we see objectively good qualities, like their high intelligence, superb eloquence, admirable work habits, etc., ceasing to be a blessing but have become a curse to them and to others.
These qualities have become an occasion to dominate others, to so distort their proper use that they stop serving God and others but have become self-serving. They can even degenerate into sick obsessive-compulsive complexes (OC).
I like to think that the current American economic catastrophe is a microcosm of this phenomenon. The Americans’ frontiersman spirit and entrepreneurial ways have been misused and have led them to where they are now, since America ’s body politic can only take so much.
What can happen is that when wrongly grounded and directed, what made one rise, could also make him fall. Like a person who over-eats, it will have diarrhea. Like one who over-works, it will succumb to fatigue. The organism will find a way to signal its sickness and correct it.
Even the supposedly good and holy people, like priests, nuns, bishops, etc., can misuse their status, covering their malice with a façade of sanctity and goodness. These are the most dangerous scoundrels, since the anti-Christ can look and act like Christ!
For all that, we should not be completely pessimistic. There’s always a way to recover, and convert what is wrong and bad into something good, a source of genuine greatness.
Let’s always remember Christ’s words: “There shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner who does penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need no penance.” (Lk 15,5)
All that is needed is to say sorry to our Lord from the bottom of our heart. And what was bad can mutate into something good again. Let’s always learn the lessons that the lives of St. Paul and St. Augustine give us.
So, while we should be serious in our efforts to be consistently good and holy, let’s also learn to relax. There’s always hope. In the end, God not only has the first word. He also has the last. Evil always longs for the good from which it fled.
I mean, what is good can become evil, and what is evil can become good. What is right can become wrong, and vice-versa. This phenomenon, actually very common, is iconized in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. (cfr Lk 18,10-14)
The Pharisee was the epitome of goodness and correctness. He fasted twice a week, gave tithes of all what he possessed. But his righteousness converted his prayer into a boast, and it simply showed he was separated from God.
The publican considered himself the receptacle of all possible moral sewage. He could hardly lift up his eyes toward heaven. His prayer dripped with compunction, but it reconciled him with God.
We have to understand that good and evil is a matter of whether one is with God or not. Good is good because one is with God. Evil is evil because he is not with God. It’s as simple as that.
Our problem is that instead of referring things—our thoughts, words and actions—to God, we refer them only to our own idea of what is good and evil.
Not much wrong there really. After all, all things we do have to be referred to our own idea of good and evil. Except that it’s an idea that has been severed from its proper source and basis—God himself.
In short, we make ourselves our own God, our ultimate source of what is good and bad, what is correct and wrong. That’s where the problems come in, where the bugs and viruses enter to corrupt our otherwise good idea.
That is why, everyday and very often during the day we need to check whether our idea of good and evil is still vitally linked with God. We have to be wary with our tendency to just flow in a certain routine and inertia of goodness that has already deadened our living connection with God.
How many times have we observed people who are bright but are proud and vain, wise but sarcastic, bursting with good intentions but painfully lacking in charity? They have become self-righteous.
There have been cases where we see objectively good qualities, like their high intelligence, superb eloquence, admirable work habits, etc., ceasing to be a blessing but have become a curse to them and to others.
These qualities have become an occasion to dominate others, to so distort their proper use that they stop serving God and others but have become self-serving. They can even degenerate into sick obsessive-compulsive complexes (OC).
I like to think that the current American economic catastrophe is a microcosm of this phenomenon. The Americans’ frontiersman spirit and entrepreneurial ways have been misused and have led them to where they are now, since America ’s body politic can only take so much.
What can happen is that when wrongly grounded and directed, what made one rise, could also make him fall. Like a person who over-eats, it will have diarrhea. Like one who over-works, it will succumb to fatigue. The organism will find a way to signal its sickness and correct it.
Even the supposedly good and holy people, like priests, nuns, bishops, etc., can misuse their status, covering their malice with a façade of sanctity and goodness. These are the most dangerous scoundrels, since the anti-Christ can look and act like Christ!
For all that, we should not be completely pessimistic. There’s always a way to recover, and convert what is wrong and bad into something good, a source of genuine greatness.
Let’s always remember Christ’s words: “There shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner who does penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need no penance.” (Lk 15,5)
All that is needed is to say sorry to our Lord from the bottom of our heart. And what was bad can mutate into something good again. Let’s always learn the lessons that the lives of St. Paul and St. Augustine give us.
So, while we should be serious in our efforts to be consistently good and holy, let’s also learn to relax. There’s always hope. In the end, God not only has the first word. He also has the last. Evil always longs for the good from which it fled.
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